It's gotten to the point where catches are defined with microscopic precision, which ironically actually muddles things up. I think the rule should basically be: If it looks like a catch, it's a catch, goddammit. It's stupid that trivialities like the ball rotating in the receiver's hand or the nose hitting the ground even though the receiver's palms are clearly under the ball can invalidate what's obviously a catch. And the whole "process of catching the ball" nonsense needs to go. Return the game to its intuitive roots instead of its legalistic paralysis.

I was going to start an officiating thread, mostly to say that the officials did okay except for the bogus facemask call on Crabtree. But these two plays are worth discussing. I think the announcers let us down by not explaining them better.

With the Collins thing, I think somebody (maybe the official) said something about "going to the ground" as part of the celebration. I didn't know there was a rule against that. It didn't look excessive, but if there's a rule against it, they had to enforce it.

As for the Swain play, it had the look of a non-catch to me because he didn't tuck it in. I think the officials have been pretty consistent on those kinds of plays, so I wasn't mad about it, though on the other hand, it was worth challenging.

I did think that it was a pretty clean game from an officiating standpoint. Most of the penalties were false starts or obvious holds. There were no pass interference controversies, which is more a credit to the DBs than to the officials. And the personal fouls by Williams and the Steeler player were obvious.

As I said before, the Crabtree penalty looked like a blatant screw-up. It was sort of a flukey play and I can see how it may have looked like a facemask in real time, but I still say that you shouldn't call a penalty unless you actually see it--and you can't see something that didn't happen.

On Collins.. he ran all the way across the endzone and was probably move for the delay (and the group) than the act itself.

Commonly players take knees.. but I think it was the circumstances in which Collins did it.

No Fun League is still in effect even on the big stage.

What the rules say aside, how can anyone say Collins' celebration was excessive and Mendenhall's was not? It's a display of elation, it's not offensive or over the top. That should never be a penalty in any game.

As I said before, the Crabtree penalty looked like a blatant screw-up.

A prime example of exactly the kind of officiating call that needs to be made subject to challenge. I am of the belief that any and all calls should be subject to review. It's ridiculous that such an obvious gaffe -- with such strong consequences -- can't be overturned when even a quick glance at the replay reveals it to have been wrong. That isn't even matter of a judgment call. He unambiguously did not touch the facemask.

the facemask WAS a horrible call...but again, I'm in no way saying that affected the outcome. There were probably a few PIs the Packers could have been called for in the first half, so it all came out in the laundry, I'm bringing this up to question the RULES rather than the refs.

Here is the problem.. by looks without zooming in, by the body language of the returner it looked like a facemask.. at first glace I thought it is on.

Officials are human.. and it wasn't the flagrant of a mistake.

Unless you can challenge a penalty, I don't think you can crucify the official in this call.

"The oranges are dry; the apples are mealy; and the papayas... I don't know what's going on with the papayas!"

What the rules say aside, how can anyone say Collins' celebration was excessive and Mendenhall's was not? It's a display of elation, it's not offensive or over the top. That should never be a penalty in any game.

I get the letter of the law, but this is like the K-State/Syracuse thing, you have to consider the moment. Honestly, I was too busy running around my apartment screaming at the top of my lungs to see there was a flag. It was only on the kickoff, and subsequent replays of his celebration that I realized what had happened...so if I was that jubliant, how do you think the players felt?

It's a shades of grey issue, but c'mon, you need to allow for some emotional outlet!

Here is the problem.. by looks without zooming in, by the body language of the returner it looked like a facemask.. at first glace I thought it is on.

Officials are human.. and it wasn't the flagrant of a mistake.

Unless you can challenge a penalty, I don't think you can crucify the official in this call.

I tried to make this point in my post that I'm not trying to question the refs in this game...I used to ref 10 year old soccer games and had soccer moms f-bomb me left and right. Hated ever second of it, and developed a new respect for what refs deal with. I'm just trying to call a spade a spade on the FM penalty (and acknowledge not an easy call) and am questioning the RULES more than anything. Letter of the law, Collins could have been flagged, it's just been a rule that has allowed for some leeway for interpretation which is my beef with it.

I'm in no way saying the refs affected the outcome. As I said, I think there were some PIs that went uncalled that worked in GB's favor.

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